Ford's Former Home Languishes on Market

The modest two-story colonial in Alexandria has all the trappings of an ordinary home: the pink bathroom, the Magic Chef oven, a couple of fireplaces. But 514 Crown View Dr. also boasts some signs, both subtle and overt, that indicate its unusual status in U.S. history.

Neighbors talk of the steel rods placed underneath the driveway to support the limos. A previous tenant speaks about the countless telephone lines installed in the basement and attic used by the Secret Service.

But a gold-lettered National Park Service sign affixed to the right of the front door says it all:

PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD, JR. RESIDENCE.

The death of the nation's 38th president has focused public attention on his time in the White House. But some spotlight has also fallen on a little-known, decidedly humdrum neighborhood (about 15 minutes south of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.), where Ford lived for nearly 20 years as a Michigan congressman, vice president and -- for 10 whole days before moving into the White House -- as president.